Day 338 to 340: Friday 18th to Sunday 20th May - New friends and a hospital visit.

On Thursday we had a really pleasant early evening BBQ before hitting the sack to try to catch up on sleep.

Friday 18th May

School in the morning.... under a little duress but soon done once they realised they could play once finished. Then watching the big boat arrive, delivering building supplies for the island. The kids took paddle boards to the beach to play while we started to put the boat back together and eventually ended up back, playing on the rocky formations which make the harbour walls.

We were then interrupted by a port guy asking us to move as a couple of tugs were bringing a crane in to finish the marina. At the moment it is unfinished and therefore free to stay but as of about the 10th of June there will be a charge. We motored over to the other side of the marina much to the kids disgust as they loved playing on the concrete sea wall but they were soon enjoying playing near our new mooring, splashing around in the water.

As we had downloaded The Greatest Showman when on marina wifi in Leuca the kids were eager to watch it so we invited Ruby and Leon over for dinner and movie which Kylie and Jasper were pretty pleased about as I don't think they had had a kid free night all winter! Before that though, Patrick and I sneaked a lovely walk whilst the kids stayed and played with Leon and Ruby. It was really interesting to explore this small island, imagining that the community may be similar to that of some of the Scottish islands, only warmer! There was a tiny police station which I suspect was only manned in Summer, with a somewhat decrepit looking police car! We then walked over to the (shut) sunset bar and wandered back through the middle of the island looking at the houses and (shut) shop and bars. It seems strange that it still isn't holiday season here despite the warm temperature.

 On our return we were greeted by the lovely sight of Ruby and Esmé skating together, Ruby on blades and Esmé on her heelies.... although I think Ruby was pretty much dragging Esmé along!  I cooked dinner and Leon introduced AJ to his favourite music!   We then settled down to watch the movie on the small iPad screen. After about 1/2 an hour Leon announced that he had seen it before and he was going back to his boat which posed a problem for me as we had told Kylie and Jasper we would keep them for at least 2 1/2 hours and I was keen to give them some child free time. I told him he couldn't leave the boat, trying to reason with him by asking how much child free time his parents had had since they started living aboard.... none of which cut any ice. I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable keeping a child I had only known for 36 hours captive, however he was suitably distracted by lego and AJ's kindle fire, and I made a judgement call that Kylie and Jasper would rather him glued to whatever game of AJ's he was playing than interrupting their quiet night. The rest of us settled down to watch the rest of the film. It wasn't long after the film finished that Jasper was outside, clearly having enjoyed a kid free evening and perfectly fine with my Leon distraction strategy!

Saturday 19th May

AJ had woken in the night asking for his inhaler which concerned me a little and in the morning he was sounding rather wheezy, reminding me of how he was before being admitted to hospital last year. The difference being that now  we weren't a 5 minute drive away from the local hospital, we were on a small island with very little facilities. We were debating what to do.... it was a 5 or 6 hour motor to Gouvia where the nearest hospital was, anything else would require needing external help and potentially putting AJ and I in a different place to Patrick, Esmé and Laurin. We had no concept of how urgently we needed to see somebody as last year had been the first and only time AJ had had any issues. In the end I spotted some builders on the pier and asked them if there was a doctor on the island.... they made a few phonecalls and a lovely guy appeared... I think  maybe port police. He was called Angelo. He told us that there was no doctor on the island as the Dr was shared between 3 islands but there was a medical room with oxygen if we needed it and they could get a helicopter or fast boat. We didn't really think things were that urgent but did find out that they had an oximeter in the room which they offered to bring to the boat. Google told me that above 95% oxygen is good, between 92% and 95% is moderate and less than 92% is bad news. AJ had 94%. Angelo very kindly insisted we take the Oximeter with us and assured us that if AJ went downhill they could get a boat to us within 15 minutes, just to call on channel 16, he also gave me his mobile number. We woke Kylie and Jasper up to tell them what we were doing and headed for Gouvia, monitoring AJ as we went. It was a fairly stressful few hours but that didn't really distract from the beautiful views of Greece and Albania.

As we chugged along we could see BOAG, Kylie and Jasper's boat on the AIS behind us and were really pleased when we could see them go past the anchorage we had planned indicating that they planned to join us in Gouvia. AJ's oxygen levels had stabilised around 96% so we were feeling a little more relaxed. On our arrival we quickly paid our dues at the office and checked in with the Port Police before walking AJ over to the hospital. BOAG had arrived and Kylie very kindly offered to look after Esmé so that we could concentrate on AJ.

On arriving at the hospital and explaining the situation we were seen straight away and AJ's  oxygen levels were measuring 93%, possibly due to the walk to the hospital, or maybe as by now he was getting anxious about being in the hospital. One nurse had really good English, the other not so great so AJ didn't really know what was going. We quickly explained that he gets anxious and we needed to explain what was happening before they did anything to him. They understood and things calmed down. He was put on Aerolin and oxygen and then the doctor arrived, announcing that he had to give AJ an injection in his bum. AJ was NOT impressed and the doctor said that he would come back in an hour because he was on his own and had other kids to see, but if he still wouldn't have the injection we would have to sign a disclaimer!

We spent the next 1/2 hour working on AJ, talking him round before the Dr reappeared and was a lot calmer and sympathetic, having decided to put a cannula in AJ and use that for blood tests and the injection. He was very patient, explaining every step of the process and after 10 minutes it was in.

It was then that he told me that we would be staying overnight. Next up was a chest x-ray and then Patrick went back to the Marina to pick up a bag of stuff and to catch up with Esmé. Our new friends of 2 1/2 days were amazing and offered Esmé a sleepover which made things much easier for us.  They also fed Patrick who then made sandwiches and returned to the hospital. By now we were up on the ward with 4 other families and AJ was brought food which made NHS hospital food look like The Ritz!

Very soon Patrick disappeared for the night with strict instructions to get some sleep and keep his phone on ready to relieve me in the morning... I had already spied a distinct lack of put up beds in the ward, and noticed there were 3 reclining chairs which were already occupied. I prepared myself for a very uncomfortable night. Just before midnight the Dr reappeared and indicated for me to talk to him outside the ward. He told me he needed to get another blood sample from AJ but this time from an artery which would be more painful than the cannula. I had 5 minutes to talk him round. At the Dr's suggestion we went to a different room... he said so that AJ only had calm associations with the room he was to sleep in but I think in reality so that AJ didn't terrify the other kids with any screaming. In the end AJ was a star and managed perfectly well.

Once back on the ward he needed more Aerolin which took until about 1am to finish. We then settled down for some sleep. Me linking 2 hard chairs together and placing my head at the food of AJ's bed.


Sunday 20th May

We were woken once more  in the night for more Aerolin before morning came at 6am so not a lot of sleep. I was relieved when Patrick text at 7am to say he was on his way. I headed back, picked up croissants and bread for BOAG and checked in on Esmé before heading back to Laurin.

After a couple of hours sleep I was awoken by the sound of Esmé scrabbling around for swim gear so she could go to the pool with the others. I took the chance to call Patrick and found out that AJ had had yet another of the horrible blood tests in the morning but that he was still off oxygen and been asked to walk around a little. AJ wanted me back so after checking in with Kylie and Jasper I headed back to the hospital.

The food was a little better on day 2 but AJ still wasn't really eating much and we basically hung around all day waiting for his next round of Aerolin which was supposed to be at 2pm. There was nobody to bee seen unti 4pm when they came to measure his oxygen levels again which were still only at 94%, if it didn't improve we were looking at another night in hospital. Very soon he was on Aerolin again and Patrick headed back to check on Esmé and wait for a phonecall from us to let us know if he was packing a camping mat for me, or coming to walk home with us. At about 6:30 the Dr dropped by saying he'd be back at 7pm to assess him. At about 7:30 he arrived, measured oxygen levels at 99% and said AJ could go home! It then took a further couple of hours to sort out the paperwork and get his last injections before we finally escaped! The next part of the challenge would be to find an open pharmacy the next day as it was a bank holiday!

It was interesting to compare the Greek Hospital with the NHS. Clearly there is less money there. There are far less nurses, probably less doctors, and the food is even more dire than the NHS. There are no entertainment systems on the wards and there was no constant monitoring of his oxygen levels. I guess because of the lack of nurses I was asked to do a lot more of  the care. The nurse would put his Aerolin in the oxygen mask and then ask me to monitor it and turn it down when it was finished. There was no toilet roll in any of the toilets and the hospital shop which was open 24 hours had stacks for sale, along with somewhat more edible food. However there were LOTS of cleaners and the wards were mopped and cleaned far more frequently than I remember the wards in the UK been cleaned. We were also seen as soon as we got there with no wait. All in all it was fine and we are very grateful to the lovely Greek people that helped AJ and also to our new friends for taking care of Esmé!

Day 334 to 337: 14th to 17th May - GREECE!!!!

Monday 14th May

We decided to do school ashore under one of the marina pagodas while Patrick serviced the engine. The kids took some time to play at the teeny tiny playground while I got set up and then both worked reasonably well for a while. AJ had had enough really quickly so he went back to the boat to help Patrick with the oil change whilst Esmé and I continued.

In the afternoon the kids took advantage of the marina wifi while Patrick and I used the knock off Go Pro to check the prop. We had been motoring a little slower than expected in the crossing, and the engine was running about 5 degrees warmer than normal. It looked pretty fouled so we decided to enquire about a diver to clean it up.

In the evening I had had enough of the rolling in the marina so voted for eating out. In the end we decided to be kind to our budget and got take away pizza to eat in a small playground we had found, then back for another early night as we still weren't firing on all cylinders after our 2 night crossing.

Tuesday 15th May

School was delayed as the diver arrived just as we were setting up and we all wanted to watch. The kids were really interested in the weight belt he was wearing and the guy was really lovely with them, even breaking off from cleaning the prop to fetch a seahorse he had spotted so they could take a look!

School work followed, using our new points system where I list a number of tasks and assign points to them. The points then get transferred into minutes of electronics time they are allowed! I try to provide more tasks than I expect them to do so that they can have an element of choice. So far it is working quite well.








By this time I was quite tired and getting ratty with the kids so Patrick took them for a walk up to the lighthouse which they seemed to enjoy!

Wednesday 16th May

We had decided to delay our departure to Greece until after lunch  and sail overnight as there was supposed to be still a bit of left over chop in the morning and none of us were in any hurry to repeat the lumpy sea we had had on the way from Syracuse. First job was a couple of loads of hand washing before filling up the tanks with water. I then wrote lists of schoolwork for the kids to get on with while I went shopping, although Esmé decided to do school later so she could shop with me. The shops here are small and expensive but eventually I had provisioned for 3 or 4 days and we returned to the boat. After stowing the food I cooked burgers for a big lunch so we didn't have to cook under way at tea time. We relaxed a little in the afternoon before filling the water tanks and motoring over to fill up with fuel. We had used a LOT on the crossing over.

We finally left for Ereikoussa (where we knew another kid boat would be) at about 5pm. There was small breeze at first so we enjoyed a leisurely tea under sail and took advantage of still being in mobile range to talk to family on a video call.

 We finally put the motor on at about 8pm as the sun set, by which time AJ had already appeared for the night watch hot chocolate!

It was a busy first watch with lots and lots of boats out and about with no AIS so I needed to be alert the whole time. Esmé kept me company as usual for a good while before finally disappearing at about 11pm. About 10pm I had to wake Patrick to take the mainsail down as it was flogging but we kept the mizzen up for a little stability as usual. It was around this time we were again joined by dolphins, such a lovely sight!

Feeling guilty that I had had to wake Patrick a couple of times whilst he was off watch I kept going until about 1:45 am but then was struggling to stay awake so got him to take over. Having got downstairs I then couldn't sleep straight away and eventually settled down about 3am, only to be woken again at 6:30am as we were arriving!

Thursday 17th May

Patrick and I rested for a while although neither of us could sleep, and then one by one the kids woke up and spotted the kids on the boat next door out and playing. It was lovely to meet new friends and having finished school super quick they are currently out playing on the paddleboard, having lots of fun!

Day 330 to 333: Thursday 10th May to Sunday 13th May 2018 - Not quite in Greece yet!

Thursday 10th May

We were up at a sensible time. Stew on the go ready to go in the thermal cooker and be dinner for the next couple of evenings. Just needed to fill up with diesel before heading off for Greece. Only when we got to the diesel pump there was nobody there. A couple of phone calls later and we ascertained that nobody would be there until 12:30. I took the time to catch up with the crew of Dizzie and eventually decided that I thought we should leave departure until tomorrow morning. I thought the trip would be about 52 hours which would leave us arriving late afternoon which I wasn't too keen on. We prefer to enter new places in daylight.



Back on the boat Patrick agreed and so we decided to delay our departure. We filled up with diesel, motored out, and dropped our anchor. Esmé went for a swim while the rest of us chilled out for the afternoon. We ate some of the stew before watching the sun set and getting an early night ready for a reasonably early start in the morning.












Friday 11th May

We left at about 8am, doing a quick drive past Dizzie to wave goodbye (although both kids were still in bed). Then motored out of the bay.

The sea was a little more lumpy than we anticipated but we hoped it would die down eventually. We decided to put the mizzen up to lessen the rolling and to our dismay the halyard shackle failed and the halyard disappeared up the mast without the sail. We don't have another halyard on the mizzen so we had no chance to send one of the kids up the mast to retrieve it. I was kind of glad as it would have been a tricky decision to send one of them up there in the lumpy seas. Over the next few hours we tried numerous home made gadgets to try to retrieve it and finally Patrick's invention worked, however we had lost a fair bit of time slowing down periodically to try each iteration. Our speed was much lower than our usual 5.5 knots motoring and we had also tried a few hours sailing but this was even slower.

AJ was unhappy with the sea state and nervous about the length of the trip. I was glad when he disappeared down below to take advantage of our agreed policy of unlimited screen time on this trip. Esmé on the other hand was absolutely loving it.  By tea time both Patrick and I had had some rest but not nearly as much as we had hoped. I took the first night watch with Esmé joining me for most of it, however as it was still lumpy I was hand steering so had to send her down below as soon as she looked tired as I couldn't leave the helm to carry her down as I had on the night passage from Malta. Esmé was a real asset, fetching and carrying things while I steered so that we didn't have to wake Patrick and I was sad to say goodnight. At about midnight I was joined by a pod of dolphins leaping and diving in the phosphorescence... it was a truly magical experience and I felt bad that the kids were missing it. By 1:30 I was really tired so woke Patrick to take over and then got my head down, and by 7am I was up on watch again while Patrick tried to get some rest.

Saturday 12th May

Patrick was struggling to sleep so at 10am when I was really hoping to catch up on some more sleep I told him to pass me a can of coke and try to get more rest. I was feeling guilty that I have the relatively easy night watch and he has the horrible getting up in the middle of the night one. It works best for us as he is a morning person and I am a night owl but I still think he has the harder job, however by lunchtime tempers were fraying and I needed more sleep. I got a couple of hours and we discussed our options. We were both exhausted and it was looking marginal as to whether we would get to Greece before nightfall the next day. We looked at our bail out options and we couldn't get to Cortone before dark so decided that we would head for Santa Maria di Leuca, arriving in the morning rather than risk arriving in Greece after dark. Patrick went down to try to get sleep again, the constant engine noise was really getting to him. Esmé sat up in the cockpit with me, trying to hide from the sun, finally choosing to sit under the table with a silvered sun shade over the top.



After yet more stew I started the night watch again with Esmé but also joined by AJ for a while too. Some dolphins came by for a little while but didn't stay long and then AJ disappeared to his cabin while Esmé stayed around for yet more hot chocolate and night watch munchies. She eventually disappeared for the night at about 11pm, and then at midnight again the dolphins returned. I quickly went down to see if she was still awake and helped her into her lifejacket. We then spent a lovely 1/2 hour watching them dance in the phosphorescence before they finally disappeared again.

At 1:30 I woke Patrick again and got my head down, waking at 6 to take over and let him have a couple of hours sleep before we arrived at Santa Maria di Leuca.

Sunday 13th May

We were hoping to find a transit berth but in the end we called the marina for a berth. It took 3 or 4 goes for me to back Laurin into her space, even then messing it up so that we needed help from the Marino's rib. We were both exhausted. Went to the office to pay and then I collapsed while Patrick pottered around the boat. We cobbled some lunch together and then went to the beach where AJ and Esmé played in the water. There were some other kids there but I don't think AJ and E had the energy to initiate conversation. Back on board for pasta and I think we were all grateful not to be eating stew! Kids were allowed yet more screen time so that Patrick and I could crash!

Day 329: Wednesday 9th May 2018 - Getting ready for the big trip to Greece

Today has been all about getting ready for our first multi day passage. Tomorrow we are planning to sail 255 miles to a small Greek Island, Orthoni, just north west of Corfu. It will take us approximately 50 hours or so, but very much dependent on weather. We may also decide to go somewhere else in Greece if the wind direction makes that a better sail. This will be the first time we are likely to be out of range of mobile data and perhaps away from AIS receivers for boatbeacon so we will be using the Delorme InReach in its tracking mode every 1 hour to keep our position updated on our "where are we" page.

First thing, Patrick took the laundry to the laundrette whilst I wrote down the school work I expected the kids to do this morning before heading off to the supermarket. It was a horrible walk at the end, with no footpaths and lots of parked cars along a very busy road but by 11am I was back on board having stocked up for the next 3 or 4 days. I then spent time carefully stowing the shopping and preparing food for the journey. Firstly preparing a stew for the thermal cooker and then chopping some salad vegetables and portioning them up so that we could just grab a box of healthy stuff to eat on deck if it is a little rough... shouldn't be but I like to be prepared.

We also dug out Nana's Christmas cake and cut it into portions... Esmé standing by for any rogue crumbs. As I was finishing off The Spacegrazers returned to their dinghy and asked if our kids would like to go and play for the afternoon... perhaps some swimming at anchor. They jumped at the chance and were soon gone.

It was great to have a bit of time to ourselves to finalise preparations. We motored round to the marina to fill up with water, just leaving a diesel fill up until the morning as it was closed in the afternoons. We met another sailing family at the marina and filled them in on the various kids sailing facebook groups as well as noforeignland.com. Then out to the anchorage where we could see the kids having a great time splashing about in the water. Esmé having plucked up courage to swim out to the buoy and back by the time we had dropped the hook.

I then spent some time looking at our Delorme Inreach, checking I remembered how to send messages and also trying to figure out the weather forecasting service. I worked out how to get the basic forecast but we need to be out on open water for the marine forecast to work... wonder if the trip to Greece will count? I couldn't find any way to check.

Once jobs were pretty much done Max came to taxi us over to Spacegrazer for drinks which eventually turned into an amazing dinner of tuna steaks, potatoes, broad beans and salad. A lovely way to spend our last night in Sicily.

Day 328: Tuesday 8th May 2018

This morning we said goodbye to our good friend Gabby and family. They are taking their little yellow boat round to Catania for a few weeks while they arrange some work on the house they are building on the slopes of Etna. Esmé as usual was too upset to say goodbye and we were all a bit down in the dumps. Patrick took one look at us all and declared a school free day!

We spent the day resting, chilling out, looking at fishes eating bread and playing. We went for ice cream with the crew of SV Sarah at lunchtime and then later the kids went over to play on Sarah. Unfortunately the wind picked up a little and we thought we might need to go out to anchor so had to drag our reluctant kids back. We decided to eat while we waited to see if our anchor dragged, forcing us off the town quay. As we had only eaten ice cream since breakfast we cooked our mussels at 4pm which although lovely, were definitely not worth the hassle of cleaning them!

Once we had eaten, the wind seemed to drop so we headed over Sarah to take advantage of their kind offer of showers on their big new boat. (We have a shower on board Laurin but no hot water without electrical plug in or running the engine. We were also on the town quay which means no water supply so wanted to conserve the water in our tanks.)

It turned into a pleasant evening. Kids running playing noisily while adults chatted. Thomas' crew, Aubrey and Stefan prepared pasta for the kids and some lovely nibbles for us. Aubrey and Stefan run a travel show on YouTube Little Miss Lone Star. Eventually we got round to the showers! We were just about finished when Justin and Lynita turned up and Thomas got the rum out!

We finally left about 9pm, again saying sad goodbyes as SV Sarah is sailing to Malta tomorrow but hopefully we may catch them up in Greece! A lovely end to the day!

Days 325 to 327: 5th to 7th May 2018 - Overnight to Syracuse

Saturday 5th May

Up at normal time for our last showers in the lovely Msida shower block, then a big breakfast before getting the boat ship shape for our first proper overnight voyage as a family. We finally left at 12 noon, ready for our 85 mile journey to Syracuse. Motoring out of Valletta we said a sad farewell to the city that had been our home for the last week and a half and looked forward to seeing our friends in Syracuse. We put the mizzen up whilst still in the harbour and then as it was quite windy, just pulled the genoa out for the first leg and were happy to make 4 1/2 knots.


The forecasted 1m swell with a period of 8 seconds was accurate and although AJ was a little nervous it was absolutely manageable.

Patrick and I both got a little rest in the afternoon before we all tucked in to a dinner of sausage stew made in our thermal cooker earlier in the day. Then the kids got into PJ's and Patrick got his head down whilst the kids and I watched the sun set and then gazed at the amazing night sky. Esmé had been desperate to use the flask so I had previously filled it with hot chocolate and both kids really enjoyed sipping this in the dark. The kids kept me company for a while before AJ disappeared to bed and his latest Percy Jackson book. Esmé stayed on deck a little later, eventually falling asleep under her "Nana blanket" necessitating me manhandling her to bed before going back on deck to my solo night watch. Even though I knew we would arrive about 6am I was keen to see how long I could keep watch before being to tired to be effective so I prepared myself for a good few hours on deck, texting a few friends and chatting to my good friend Sarah on the phone.... it was lovely to catch up. By 1:30 I was starting to get really cold, despite not really being too tired so I put the kettle on and woke Patrick as it boiled. Once he was on deck I made him a cup of tea and handed over the watch before getting my head down too.

Sunday 6th May

Patrick woke me at 5am to tell me we were approaching Syracuse, Esmé also popped her head up to watch the sunrise.

As we needed permission to enter the harbour and the pilot book told us that the port authority was open from 7am until 7pm, we decided to slow down to waste some time and I got a little extra sleep before we heard others getting a response on the radio and so decided to call in and enter.

Our good friends from Dizzie got up to welcome us in and take our lines which was very much appreciated. I tried to get some more sleep but failed so eventually we all went out to the Da Vinci museum which was really good despite the somewhat miserable lady on the door. We also went to the castle however this was rather less of a success with the kids opting to play in the stones in the courtyard rather than engage in the building.

Back to the boat for some chill out time and a wonderful communal lunch. AJ was thrilled that Dizzie had a 9 year old visiting... and one that was reading the same Percy Jackson books was an serious bonus! Having had only about 3 hours sleep I was exhausted so we got pizza for dinner, eating it with Gabby and crew as Dizzie's anchor had dragged and they had had to motor out to anchor away from the town quay. We also watched our friends from Spacegrazer arrive and looked forward to seeing them the next day. However soon after pizza I crashed, only waking once before morning due to some extremely loud fireworks at midnight!

Monday 7th May

School went really well today, with both kids doing a fair amount before Max, Bianca, Beau, Kai and Zoe arrived on their dinghy and we all went out to lunch at the cool sandwich shop in the market.

After lunch the kids played whilst we tidied up a bit. AJ wanted a movie but he needed to do a little more school to "earn" more electronics time so he and Luca made a model of one of Da Vinci's flying machines!

Later in the day SV Sarah arrive with her Norwegian crew. I had been in touch with her owner, Thomas since early last year however we had missed each other a couple of times before finally meeting up today. Their kids fitted in just fine with the crowd of kids already here and after dinner we headed over to their beautiful Hanse 588 for drinks while the kids played. A lovely end to a lovely day.